Indian crew on board crippled cargo ship Dali ‘healthy’: Baltimore-based nonprofit organisation

The 2.6km-long, four-lane bridge over the Patapsco river in Baltimore, came crashing down after Dali, a 984-foot cargo ship bound for Sri Lanka, collided against it in the early hours of March 26

A Coast Guard cutter passes a cargo ship that is stuck under the part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge, in Baltimore. AP/PTI

PTI

New York, April 1

The Indian crew on board a crippled container vessel that collided against a key bridge in Baltimore last week is “healthy”, according to a nonprofit organisation that has been in touch with the personnel.

The 2.6km-long, four-lane bridge over the Patapsco river in Baltimore, came crashing down after Dali, a 984-foot cargo ship bound for Sri Lanka, collided against it in the early hours of March 26.

The 21 crew members of Dali, of which 20 are Indians, are still on board the crippled cargo ship nearly a week after the collision.

“All I know right now is that they are healthy and we are doing the best we can to support their needs emotionally and otherwise,” Baltimore International Seafarers' Centre Executive Director the Rev Joshua Messick told PTI.

Messick said he has “been in touch with the crew via WhatsApp” and described the crew's responses to him as well as to those who are in touch with it as being “succinct”.

“I imagine they are being very careful about what they say and to whom,” he said.

Messick added that he has again reached out to the crew of the Dali to "see if I could have anything delivered to them today".

The Baltimore International Seafarers’ Centre is a nonprofit organisation serving seafarers who call on the Port of Baltimore from all over the world. Its mission is to “facilitate the well-being of crew members by offering transportation ashore,” according to information on its website.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi had said that 20 Indians are on board the cargo ship Dali and the Indian Embassy in Washington is in close touch with them and the local authorities.

“Our information is that there are 21 crew members, of which 20 are Indians. All of them are in good shape, (and in) good health. One of them got injured slightly and needed to have some stitches, and stitches have been given. And, he has gone back to the ship,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a query during his weekly media briefing last week.

He had also said the Indian Embassy in the US is in “close touch with the Indians on board the ship and also local authorities”.

Messick said he is also reaching out to the captains of all eight vessels currently trapped in the Port of Baltimore following the bridge accident.